What is BitShare?

The traditional financial system has long been plagued by various problems with security, transaction fees, inflation, and fraud. BitShare (BTS), a brand of open-source software based on the Bitcoin Blockchain technology, functions as a Decentralized Autonomous Company (DAC) was conceived to solve these problems while reducing transaction costs in relation to other cryptocurrencies. BitShare is also a crypto exchange, offering users a platform for trading various crypto-assets.

What is BitShare?

Bitshare is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading platform that consists of a Blockchain protocol and the software Hydra. The platform offers various services to users, such as, a secure messaging system called BitCom, a decentralized identity management system called BitNames and a peer-to-peer (P2P) currency exchange system. Users can also hold a wallet that functions just like a bank account. Funds can be transferred in or out in seconds anywhere in the world with better privacy and security measures than a regular bank.

History of BitShare

The idea of creating a fiat currency to Bitcoin exchange without actually requiring initial fiat deposits (in other words, allowing users to buy in using Bitcoin) was first forwarded by Dan Larimer in 2013. The idea was taken up by Ethereum co-founder, Charles Hoskinson who then brought in investors. The result was BitShares, which was created in 2014.

How Does it Work?

To understand the mechanics of the BitShare protocol, we need to understand two kinds of cryptocurrency users. First, we have savers, who are more risk-averse and looking for a steady return, and second, speculators who tend to tolerate more risk and look for higher returns. Most savers will want to be able to get currency in and out of the system easily. This can be achieved in several ways: You can use a physical currency exchange, use a conventional exchange, use the Hydra software through a QT client, or use Hydra software to talk to a Bitcoin client like Bitcoin QT, or use anonymous escrow agents.Speculators will likely prefer holding BitAssets, which pay yields to those who own them. The yield is obtained from the market fees, which may vary, (hence the term dividends is commonly used to describe them). When speculators borrow BitShares to create BitAssets, they don’t get to borrow that money for free. The Blockchain chooses the order with the highest interest rate, and that interest is paid to people who own that BitAsset.

Mining BitShares

Bitshares are mined in a gradually reducing sequence, just like the parent chain Bitcoin, a process that will result in zero new Bitshares within 12 years. Once zero is achieved, mining rewards will be uniquely generated from transaction fees in the system.

Benefits of BitShares

The BitShares system allows stable BitUSD, BitCNY, and BitGold (and several more BitAssets) to be created using Bitshares as the collateral that backs them and gives them value. BitShares also incorporates common investment functions to the trading exchange platform. These two trading components are the cryptocurrency BitShare and BitAssets and a new financial derivative. This enables stability and scalability in the assets market pegged to the cryptocurrency.